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Dublin funds hit back over staff crisis

IRELAND’S $300 billion (€247 billion) hedge fund administration industry has hit back at claims that its staff are so overloaded they risk mis-pricing complex credit instruments which could threaten financial stability.

The Financial Times reported during the week that the Dublin-based teams are finding it hard to attract and retain vital staff, leaving a lack of expertise in valuing intricate securities such as credit default swaps and collateralised debt obligations.

Gary Palmer, the chief executive of the Dublin Funds Industry Association, rebuffs the suggestion that there is an insufficient pool of qualified staff for the sector to continue to grow at the rate it has in recent years.

“It’s an industry that had peak annual growth of 100% in 1999 and 2000 when the country was near to full employment and it was able to attract sufficient resources then,” said Palmer, adding that there was about 40% growth in hedge